http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/c...re/7426439.stm


Litter wardens in a Cambridgeshire city are only being paid if they hand out fines, it has been revealed.

A Peterborough City Council scheme has been branded "outrageous and completely unjust" by the Taxpayers' Alliance.

The group claimed it was an "excuse to raise funds rather than a way to discourage littering".
But a council spokesman said: "Their objective is to stop people dropping litter and to make them aware of the consequences if they do so."

nstead of being paid a salary, the four "environmental warden" posts in Peterborough operate on a commission basis of £35 per ticket, with no lower or higher limit on their earnings.


The council spokesman accepted the wardens would lose money - and possibly their job - if the council achieved its aim.

"If our over-arching message is successful, it would mean the streets were cleaner and there would be no need for environmental wardens," he said.
Since the wardens were introduced in April last year, more than 1,700 £50 fixed penalty notices, which rise to £75 if not paid with 21 days, have been issued.


As well as environmental wardens, these can also be handed out by police community support officers and street wardens.

Mark Wallace, Campaign Director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This is outrageous and completely unjust.

"These wardens have no incentive to stop people littering - indeed if they stopped people doing it, their pay would dry up. Instead they'll just continue to loiter round trying to sting people for fines to make a quick buck. That's no way to run a justice system."
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: "We are not aware of any other authorities who pay their wardens in this way."

This is typical of the powers handed over to local authorities they see everything as a chance to make money.